Statistical Modeling and Monitoring of Geometrical Deviations in Complex Shapes With Application to Additive Manufacturing

The industrial development of new production processes like additive manufacturing (AM) is making available novel types of complex shapes that go beyond traditionally manufactured geometries and 2.5D free-form surfaces. New challenges must be faced to characterize, model and monitor the natural variability of such complex shapes, since previously proposed methods based on parametric models are not applicable. The present study proposes a methodology that applies to complex shapes represented in the form of triangulated meshes, which is the current standard for AM data format. The method combines a novel bi-directional way to model the deviation between the reconstructed geometry (e.g., via X-ray computed tomography) and the nominal geometry (i.e., the originating 3D model) with a profile monitoring approach for the detection of out-of-control shapes. A paradigmatic example consisting of an egg-shaped trabecular shell representative of real parts produced via AM is used to illustrate the methodology and to test its effectiveness in detecting real geometrical distortions.